Where To Buy Japanese Stuff

This is a compilation of places I’ve found on where to buy Japanese products shipped to USA or found in USA. The list is separated into sections for each category and some are repeated over since they carry products in multiple categories.

Most doujinshi sites are 18+, and you have been warned. I will eventually post my experience with the sites that I’ve used. There is no Japanese tax on the items if they are shipped outside of Japan. However, for proxy/deputy services, tax will be part of the total cost.

An asterisk * is for those that I have used before and could recommend.

Manga

These stores sell Japanese manga and ships internationally/within the US.

*honto (Japanese) — the former bk1. Recommended, but Japanese knowledge is necessary, refer to my guide and/or use rikaichan (browser plugin)/google translate. honto doesn’t mark up their prices, has a wide selection of books (manga and light novels), and has the cheapest (and the most) shipping options available, a points system, and frequent campaigns. They also send out coupons occasionally. Simply put, the best option IMHO for Japanese books.

Kinokuniya — Prices are marked up by ~$2-4; there is a members club for $25/year and you could get a 10% off. Shipping is $8 flat, free above $50 for the US. For web store orders, all shipments are handled by air mail directly from Japan, which takes 7-10 business days. Their stock and selection seems decent, they carry English, Japanese, and Chinese books, but prices are meh. The only reason I’d recommend this place is if you live near the physical store and you want to get that item right now. But if you can wait, go honto. Also, if you have something you can’t find anywhere else, they might have the stock considering their prices.

Akadot Retail — A niche selection; they mostly do Yaoi/Yuri/Hentai. Prices are marked up by ~20%-60%. Shipping is free (up to $15) over $60, but otherwise, Media Mail is the cheapest option. Small selection of items, but if you can’t find your item anywhere else and are desperate enough, this place might have it.

Amazon.co.jp — The last option with a broad selection of items and ratings, but shipping is extremely overpriced and packaging is horrible from what I’ve heard.

Magazines

For magazines, you could also try the above places and the following:

Fujisan — Magazine subscriptions only, no single volumes. As far as I know, this is the only place that offers full magazine subscriptions directly from Japan, but it also costs time and $$ to ship each magazine out too.

*Hobby Search — Decent selection of magazines, artbooks, and manga. Offers EMS and SAL Small Packet shipping. Prices seem reasonable, no Japanese tax. They have a points system. Seems to be a good option for English speakers looking for magazines, artbooks, and figurines.

JBOX — Very few selection but if you’re looking to purchase only one volume, sometimes they have it. Prices are marked up from retail price and shipping is marked up too. Again, for the desperate.

Doujinshi

*MANDARAKE — This place is quite good for second-hand doujins if you can find what you’re looking for. Similar to BookOff but the doujin version of it. They take requests too, but no guarantees that they’d definitely be able to get it for you. For the search bar, try both the Japanese title and English title. They only take CC and Paypal and it’s limited to certain regions. Be sure to read their policies before ordering.

English DLSite — digital only doujinshi/doujin-soft/cg. Japanese DLSite has a better selection if you can’t find stuff that you like, they are both the same though (if you can’t access it, click Japanese on the top right of the page). Beware of authorization required products.

JBOX — Few selection of doujin-soft and doujinshi. They carry somewhat rare/unique items with marked up prices/shipping.

Ebay — You can find rare/certain items here, but prices are pretty expensive.

Video Games (IMPORTS)

*AmiAmi — Very good prices for import video games. Has a variety of shipping options and also includes external/preorder bonuses that come with the game. (CC/Paypal)

*Nippon-Yasan — Prices are pretty good, lots of popular Japanese video games (used and new), consoles, accessories, and game-related goods, such as prepaid cards, cases, trading cards, etc. Website supports English, French, and Spanish languages and conversion of multiple currencies. Also a WIDE range of shipping options available from the cheapest to the most expensive. Accepts a lot of payment options such as credit card, mastercard, Paypal, etc. Should check it out.

Play-Asia — Marked up prices for video games, but a large selection, even the newest releases from JPN/EU/Asia. Reliable, but shipping is somewhat slow IMO. They also don’t really update you on your order if something on their end holds up the order. However, if you email them, they do get back to you.

CDJapan — Not a large selection in games, but they have external and preorder bonuses included with their items. Prices are decent. They’re lower than retail, but almost the same as Play-Asia. I’d certainly recommend AmiAmi over them for a possibly bigger discount if you’re looking for preorder/external bonuses to go with your items. Pretty good points system. Wide range of payments accepted.

Nin Nin — They’re pretty similar to Nippon-Yasan, but a little more expensive. They do sometimes offer deals so that might balance it back out. They also sell used imports.

CDs/DVDs/Merchandise

*YesAsia — Prices marked up by ~$0-4, but free shipping above $39. If you’re looking for CDs, most of the time this place has the exact same price or even cheaper, and with free shipping available. I did have one case of an arrival of a cracked CD ordered, but after emailing them and explaining the situation and showing them pictures of proof, they replaced it for me for free. The new CD came within days after they received the cracked CD.

*CDJapan — Very good place with a wide selection of CDs, DVDs, drama CDs, and limited edition/first press anime merchandise. There have several shipping options, including SAL, EMS, Air Mail. They don’t mark up their prices, prices are in Japanese yen. They also have a pretty good points system, 3% of cost (without tax) compared to honto’s 1%, but they don’t carry much books. And just FYI: limited edition stuff go out of stock very quickly here.

Tokyo Otaku Mode — They have a focus of illustrations/art-related goods, but they sell all kinds of mainstream otaku goods as well, including figurines, t-shirts, art books/doujinshi from popular illustrators (e.g. redjuice) and the like. Free Standard SAL SPR shipping for orders over $150 for North Americans. They ship worldwide (some places excluded). They have a point system.review

HMV.jp — Great for Japanese CDs/DVDs, especially anything movies and music-related. EMS only.

Deputy/Proxy Services

*ash — Reliable guy who will go out of his way to purchase doujinshi and other Japanese merchandise that you request, especially for events like Comiket. His fees are pretty steep depending on how much yen your items are, but reliable nonetheless.

Shopping Mall Japan — They have an automated bidding system for Yahoo! Japan Auctions and a bunch of other sites.

White Rabbit Express — They have some Japanese items being listed on their home page as advertisement as to what you can ask them to buy for you. Service fees range from around 9-15% + there’s a fixed fee of around $13.00. It’s not entirely clear how much they’d charge for a particular request, but there is a form that you can fill out to get a quote before you commit to buying. Recommended by user wekateka in this comment.

If you live close to a BookOff, I definitely recommend it for used manga/DVDs/CDs. Prices are on par or cheaper as if you were buying in Japan. Their used items are actually in a very nice condition. Sometimes, you would even find rare/hard-to-find items that would make your day :).

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80 Responses to Where To Buy Japanese Stuff

I want to thank you for giving me the list of places to buy manga. I was looking for Tsubomi vol 17 and I couldn’t find it. HMV came thru and better than Amazon.jp which is too expensive. I decided to just buy the volume and not wait around for someone to upload it. Now I just have to find someone to translate. But that is another story. :)

I use Mangaoh most of the time – a great thing about them is that they are really good in any titles for nearly all genres (assuming you are not after used copies). Of course, you will still run into titles that they don’t have, but that tends to be an exception. If you cannot find a certain Mangaoh, they are likely to be hard to find across all dealers – may be except Amazon used copy sellers.

For people who are into local independent businesses. Mangaoh is a local independent trader. For the price and service that they offer, Mangaoh is competitive against the big boys (Amazon, Animate, Rakuten, Tsutuya blah blah – the last 3 don’t ship books overseas – but there is a trick to do that).

As a bit of a recommendation if there is a problem with a merchant that will not ship to Japan: there are businesses that willing to do middleman to do shipping (not sure should I name them here) – that makes it possible to order from those businesses that can accept your credit card but just won’t ship overseas.

Ah. I’ve never used Mangaoh before, but I’ve heard that they are pretty good for some hard to find items and that their shipping/handling service is very reliable (via EMS). I believe they also include the pre-order bonuses — or special bonuses (tokuten) if the item you ordered is supposed to come with it (mostly preorders). I know honto does not include any.

I’ve listed a few proxy services at the end of the list, but feel free to recommend some more to other users if you’d like. I’ll include them if I find their services to be beneficial and worth mentioning.

Yes, they will put in any specials that are included. Mangaoh has a knack of getting a lot of these special bonus items too. I never had any reliability problem with Mangaoh, but I bet some may have some bad experiences with them in the past. Anyway, no one can stop a postal worker going postal on your box…

An unusual thing about Mangaoh is they can hold your shipment… for rather long periods. You can pre-order something that is due for release in 3 months with other stuff mixed in the order, instruct to them to combine into one shipment, and they will do hold your order for 3 months… (I haven’t tried for even longer time – I think 3-4 months are the most I have tried with them).

For Proxies:

I have used Tenso.com a few times. They work quite well if you happen to deal with a Japanese merchant that ships domestically for free. Tenso then charges EMS + service charge.

A warning about Tenso (and any middleman/proxy) is that the price they charge is SENSITIVE to how the merchant packages their stuff. Generosity in buffing up your box (over-packaging) to protect your stuff isn’t generous to your wallet.

I never had problems with merchants (including Mangaoh) that sells directly overseas with over-packaging. They are aware that high international shipping prices turn customers away, and over-packaging takes time and packaging costs.

I’m not familiar with cosplay-related goods, but that coat looks like it’s possible to make if you find something that’s very close to it and take on some needlework. Haha, sorry; good luck finding one!

Wanted to let you know, Kinokuniya Bookweb USA http://www.kinokuniya.com/us/ has changed their system. Under $100 ships for a flat $8 (over $100 still free), and orders are handled by air mail direct from Japan, so no more fussing with what’s in stock at what store. Their interface is also a lot more browse-able than it used to be. They still have a pretty good markup, although there’s a club you can join ($25/year IIRC) to get 10% off.

I have never heard or used this site before so I took the liberty to look it up.

According to the last pages of this thread and overall review (out of 10 feedbacks) on MFC, Japan Best does not seem to be too safe or reliable. I think this post from one buyer pretty much sums up what this site is about. Your mileage may vary. Since I am trying to keep this list as reliable and resourceful as possible, I am not going to endorse them. Thanks anyway.

Thank you so much for writing this very well informed article. I was a stupid noob and ordered $300 worth of stuff through Amazon.co.jp and the package arrived with a big hole and comics with page creases… I hate DHL… I need to use honto asap!

I emailed http://www.yokattaweb.jp/ to help me place bids for three yahoo auction items 4 days ago and I still haven’t heard anything from them. I emailed a second time yesterday to kindly ask them to reply back because a listing is ending within hours. Are they selective on customers? I don’t think I did anything to make them refuse my order. They are just manga and tokuten illustration card. I think their auction listing service is not reliable but I really like the flat rate 700 yen fee for three items from one website. Has anyone experienced the same problem with http://www.yokattaweb.jp/???

Hm. That’s strange. I don’t think they’re selective, but maybe your email got sent to their spam box?
I ordered from them back in early 2012, described in this post. When I emailed them, they replied to me promptly and told me that if I wanted them to bid for me, I’d have to pay them ahead of time and such. In the end, I did 1 auction item + 3 items from Tora no Ana. Their pricing is pretty good, and I got all of my stuff last time. Haven’t ordered from them lately though. They still seem active on their twitter though. You should try asking there, seems like they reply there.

Ur blog is very helpfull for videogames in particular. I would like to know if u can give me an hint also for sites that sell action figures also with wholesale prices. I know and use only toy-wholesaler.jp that doesn’t require me to have an official business. But can’t find more reliable others…

Hello Kaizora! :) I was wondering how did receive your package? Did your local postman deliver them to you? :) I’m eyeing those Rurouni Kenshin and Hikaru no Go’s Kanzeban you see. I’m planning to get those by pair so that the expenses would not be too much. Cannot cash out that much of money in one go. ;_;
Also, I’m grateful that I stumble upon your account or I might not discover honto.jp. I’m still a beginner in learning Japanese but I would like to read my favorite series in their original context. :)

I receive my package(s) from the local postal company, which in the US would be USPS.

And I totally understand! I also buy manga to read it in the author’s original context/words (since things can easily get lost in translation). It’s also nice to support my favorite authors, so that they can create more amazing works! Haha, I also buy their books to brush up on my Japanese ;).

Zen Market is probably the best proxy server right now. But to bad there’s not that many reviews on them. Looking forward to hearing more about Japanese proxy sites like them online. I seriously wonder how they keep their fees so cheap. Kind of made some other proxy site raise their prices so hopefully not all of them would end up raising their prices because they can’t afford the customer service, LOOOL!

Thank you so much for the info. And I really recommend FromJapan for general proxy services like for Yahoo Japan Auction. The commision are cheaper (I’ve tried some others before)

And I have a question. Doesn’t Ash accepting Paypal as payment method?
and I have found some stuff I’d like to buy, but it’s sold by a person on Twitter. I’ve been asking some proxy services but they cannot do that kind of order. Do you think Ash can accept that kind of order???

FromJapan is not so good for Yahoo Auctions within their fees anymore, they still charge bank payment fees and take huge 5% commission for paying by PayPal.
New services like Remambo.jp are in trend now, low fixed commission, no bank payment fees even for yahoo auctions items, discounts for shipping prices and fastest customer support.

Majority of their shops do, but it depends on the shop; because Rakuten is like an online shopping mall. It’s not one large retailer selling the items.

And FYI, most credit cards would charge a foreign transaction fee for foreign purchases, and this fee is based on your card’s terms (probably 5% of your total) unless you have a card that won’t charge you for that.

I don’t know if this helps anyone but the yen is really down right now and the US dollar is strong. Amazon.jp might not be actually too bad if you want fast shipping with tracking. Ordered 4 mags today with an estimate of Jan 12th for about 19 bucks shipping. I’ll report back on how they do with packaging overseas. It seems if you buy in bulk the shipping is a lot less killer. Wouldn’t recommend for one magazine though or something since they wanted 12 dollars for one… but again, that IS with fast shipping and tracking.

Hi, I started to buy from toranoana using forwarding address because it easier to reserive item that popular (sold out very fast). But. i have problem with the type of reservation 予約定期便 and
予約毎度便 can you please clarify a little bit.

予約定期便 is a service where every Tuesday, the preordered products are gathered together, and when they are all ready, it ships out. This method is for customers who want to reduce the amount of times items are shipped/saving money on shipping. In short, it means to ship them altogether at once when they are ready on a Tuesday.

予約毎度便 is a service where when the preordered products are ready, it will immediately ship out. This is for customers who don’t want to wait, and you will be charged each time an item ships out.

I read your guide for ordering in Honto. It was really useful, thank you so much.
I’ve still not ordered. But I have a small doubt. Does Honto ship to the default address saved? I followed your guidelines and saved my house address in India. They will ship to the address I’ve saved right? I would like to know this before I order since Honto is at the moment, the only place I can order a particular series of novels. CDJapan where I order normally from, doesn’t have the series and Yesasia is a total rip off.

Hi Hema, if it is the only address you entered, it would be the default. You will be able to see which address they are sending to during checkout. If you’ve saved it, it would definitely be an option, even if it is not a default. Just make sure it is the correct address before you submit the order in the last step.

I bought several books and one of the book had to be backorder. but after 2 weeks I receive mail that they cancel the backorder item and shipped the rest of the in-stock book.

So I checked honto site, the backorder book still available to purchase and my order don’t actually label as “cancel” but “出荷中止（入荷事故)”. What does this means? Do I still able to get the book once is back in stock. (the book just been published in early April so I’m sure the publisher will restock and in amazon it’s listed as “temporary not available”.)

出荷中止 means it is temporarily unavailable and if you order on Amazon, I believe you can place the order, and they’ll get it to you when it gets back in stock but they don’t know specifically when. Best of luck!

I haven’t used Tenso for 18+ material, but since they inspect the packages for prohibited items and on their prohibited goods page (http://www.tenso.com/en/guide/contraband/index.html), it doesn’t specify adult material, I assume it’s probably OK. I’ve gotten 18+ doujins and manga before from honto before. It wasn’t a problem in customs, so I suppose it’s only on Tenso’s part whether they’d deliver or not. Might be safer to just ask them before using them?

I always use Japanese forwarding/proxy service called JPN-Depot.com when I buy doujinshi. Their fee is only 200 yen per a box. The other day, I bought about 10kg of doujinshi and it costs me only 200 yen to ship to USA:D just FYI

thank you for this wonderfull list . its very helpfull
there is an other website called http://myjpop.com/ they sell japanese cds dvds and magazines and ship from US (however their selection isnt as big as the other websites you listed)

Hello–just wanted to let you know that Yokatta has disappeared several months ago, along with the money of any customer unlucky enough to have paid them for goods they never shipped out. Any email inquiries go unanswered. They are most definitely scammers now.

Haha, glad it’s helpful. I’m actually exploring the idea of re-designing this list in a nice interface, but haven’t had the time yet. Right now, it’s informational and updated (based on community feedback) :).

Hi, it’s nice that you still comment replies frequently! I’ve been trying to find information but everything is outdated. I like Ash’s idea a loooot and me and my husband actually just moved to Tokyo….We basically want to sell anime merchandise on ebay but are unsure of all the laws and whatnot. I’m sure you don’t know all the details about that but honestly I’m confused as to why there’s not much already—is there some weird thing against selling stuff overseas? DVDs & the like are pretty cheap to ship, especially when you consider the price difference in how much it costs in America.

Haha. I’m not sure if I can answer your question completely, but I can try. There are certain rules from the JP Post to mailing things overseas from Japan, but for the most part, they’re not that limiting. You’d have to check per service on their website if you’re interested. https://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/service/compare_en.html

I would say that selling overseas is probably less profitable than it used to be. Yen has decreased a lot and there has been many other sellers/shops nowadays that sell overseas or have stores in those countries to sell Japanese imports. If you do sell to overseas, you’d have to be aware of possible customs limitations for customers to get their packages…and how to maintain a reputation. Lost packages, mailing delays, email correspondences, renting warehouse space possibly… All things to think about. As far as commission goes, you may not earn that much considering you have to pay fees for whatever service you use to receive money (either through paypal or some other method). I would think that the only way for this to be profitable is if you’re hunting down limited edition/hard to find doujinshi, figurines, and such like how Ash does in Japan… It’s harder to earn money from books and easy-to-find items that people can find in CDJapan or Amiami. DVDs and the like are probably profitable if they aren’t found for a cheap price on CDJapan or Amazon.co.jp + shipping…

Ah. I didn’t list it because there wasn’t a large selection at the time, but yes, CDJapan is a viable option if you’re accumulating points there and have other things to order too. Keep in mind that ordering books and other things would not work for SAL printed matter pricing since mailing as “printed matter” is limited to only print.

All brand new! All merchandise are also in Japanese. For the website, I would really recommend you use Google Translate or the plugin rikaichan to get around the website. Let me know if you have any more questions.

This is my preference order, for H mangas (doujinshi are a separate matter):
1. If the item has a bonus item on MangaOh, buy from MangaOh
2. If the item has a bonus item from Autumnleaf or Daito-i, buy from them via a reshipper (Ash, Goody, etc)
3. If the item is available on MangaOh, buy from MangaOh
4. If the item is available from any intl-shipping shop (usually HMV, honto)
5. If the item can be found from any domestic-only bookstore (e.g. Junkudo, Maruzen, Amazon jp) buy via a reshipper
6. If the item is out of print, check with Tokyo-archive if they can find a new or mint copy